Mail catching and delivering device.



V. D. CALDWELL. MAIL CATCHING AND DELIVERING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 22. lens.

1,244,582. Patented Oct. 30,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET L a 30 /9 3/ 8 g; j 29 i I 8 I l 30 35 I a. 1 34 34 L 5'3 32 I 38 g? I 39 0 I I 4 I 36 0 I O IIH'I n I J I 44 I h 4 9 I INVENTOR MEW ATTORNEY V. D. CALDWELL. MAIL CATCHING AND DELIVERING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 22. 1916.

1,244,582. I Patented Oct. 30,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2v WITNESSES ATTORNEY I vumn Lo. CALPWE LQ or ne'ronimocnns; nonrsienn.

min. ce qetaeem "eeei eemeewma To all whomiz't may-concern} Be it known t at I, VANnmD.QAmWnLL,

a citizen of the'United'States,residingat 1 Natchitoches; in the parish of. Natchitoches and State of LohisianaQhave invented 6 tain new andnsezf il Improvements =in-Mail Catching ancl Delivering Devices, of which the following is aspecification. I v I This invention relates to mailbag catchies and del v n d i es, nd a fo i P imar je t p de mprovedm n fo s po t ng Q1 m nta ninama pouche ilm nt aired; n -upona ar n sixt I eeert tt aes 0 ,1 p uc e a -h 11 terchangedith as littleijar or shockto the pouch or the supporting means as'is possible,

h eby-b ka oraring ofv the ba or e a me h uppor in e ns bviated V provide a device of this character wherein the delivery of the pouches either to or'from theltraveling car, or the stationary crane 'or I support 7 is positive, thus preventing loss of the mail pouches during the catching? oporation.

to providethe device: of" this character and -ztor these purposes which is ofexceeclingly 7 mple and ine pe s ve n ruc Which is mp sed of but i w-readily a e b ed tion of th 001131 member 16 by a brace bar parts, all so constrnctccl o and arrangedas to prevent wear, breakage, or derangementof Jthe am h-is e sy f operationyan e5 wh c w P veery ecfiac ent in the atment ofthe ends for 'Wh Qh t is die signed.

th r h c ill a pear s h desc ption p ed t e nven on, esi in thenovel formation, combination and arrangementjof parts all as avill be described more fully epeci c l yr in ed o in he c ai The invention;will be' best lllderstood by t e en "t the c m g dra n herei Fig e is a WQW il B VQ lQ i and i lustrating a .mall POllQCh tTaIISfQ/ITIiD g apparatus emb in he nv tion: a d in th a a of (deliver ng PQuches-inon; a 'Inoving car to the fifi cat hin -or ar l eiv ngrdevi ie;

" ie: P n 9 5119 d vi e;

Figs. 2; and it-are enlargedwcletailed views ettheg-i p members; .7

e fie e of en er e t ta Pnrting hooks; and

W th t-s i i w; t g henwith lfiig. 5. is a similar iew ofthe pouch sup- Fig. 61 is a detail sectional view on an. .en-

larged scale taken on line 6+6 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawin s 7 ndi' te a C a e. s andard or pa t wh ch i rotatab y ount d in upsta dins P it Q W hin. Su t bleocket 8 cmi bedflle Q 1' any Qther pre erre man er securedto a suitable fo nclationsnch as age- ,mentl ase 9.: This post carries adjacent its lower-ends a ratchet wheell O, a pawl: l1 being e e-ne d 1.101 th ase to e gage with th various ratchet teeth-to limit thefrotation, of

h vheel and postfi -n one direction. This post is braced by suitable struts; 12, the latter filn wed t their out rm s ends to the ba e and b ing onne ed at their. inner'ends t V c we la ltt neloose y aro nd he post a A further object of the invention is to I V cured-to the post to'enable the latte/r be Y A a tu tin rm (Ir-h n e s eri hts-an es f om th pper end thereo w nedm or suppor 5.. This arm pr n a v V i etefr a collar mem er 6 lamped u ti fur her obj t t i venti n is a "'p b 'c of eingju t d months s p t Post y bo sw e y he s me i A second collar 18, isin a similar manner secured to the post, 7 below the arm 15, and is.

connected to the rearwardly extending porthe'post, affords arigid support for, the arm toavithstancl the strain to which fthe'latter will besubjecteclin th mail transferring'or delivering operation. Depending from the 15 and in spacedrelation toeach other flarvezgrip nembers 20, the latter being constructed of springzmetal; and providing at c a iheirfloWcr ends spaced laterally projecting here naf e il str ed in th u raw ngsf-and Spring g'rippingiat'vs 21. {The lo ermost of the jaws 2lrextencls atsubstantially right a gles to thc'body portioniofthe grip memher and is beveled 'as;at*22- upon its upper orlgrippingsiirfaceadjacent the outermost extremity of; the jaw. Theuppermost jaw projects laterally from a stem or arm held spaced relationto the :body portionlofi the member 20,, and is spaced above the .XlOWBI'mOSt jaw and parallels to the. beveled onter:v encl-,thereof. :This construction pro- -.vides;- a relatively Wide spaceLbetvveenf the juncture :ofQ-z-the agrippingfg' ears with their Patented Q01). 39, 1917.

I ei pl cat efi e llay 1 S ie o-9 L1 Q- supporting portions, and a contracted space at the extremities of the gripping jaws. The grip members are secured upon the crane arm 15 by means of bolts 23.

Arranged beneath the crane arm 15 and secured upon the post 7 in substantially the same manner as the crane arm 15, is a pouch receiving basket 24:. This basket is supported through its upper rim or bail 25 by brace members 26, the latter projecting from the sleeve 27 corresponding to the sleeve 18 for the crane arm 15. The body portion of the basket may be formed of heavy wire strands or rods of iron or other material, and are preferably bowed or curved downwardly throughout the width of the basket and form a relatively shallow concave bottom therefor. This basket is relatively wide, and is adapted to receive bags or pouches delivered from a passing train.

Pivot-ally supported as at 28 in the doorway of a railway car so as to swing outwardly therefrom, is a basket or collector arm 29, the latter supporting a basket 30 of heawv wire or iron bars, in such position as to he and pass beneath the crane arm 10 projecting from beside the track. A hook 31 is secured to'the car frame to support the basket in proper position projecting at right angles to the'direction of travel of the car.

Pivoted in a suitable bracket 32 upon the car door and directly beneath the arm 29, is a bag delivery arm 33. This arm is of such length as to extend above and practically throughout the entire length of the basket 24 stationedbeside the track, and is adapted to support mail pouches to be delivered to the said basket. This arm is equipped with spaced grip members at of substantially the same construction as those described in connection with the crane arm 15. Ahook 35 also maintains the bag delivery arm in site-extremities with openings 38, by means of which the said hooks are supported pendant from the grip members 20 and 34. The length of the hook members is such that when supported at their apertured ends within the'clamping jaws 21 of the rip members 20 and 3a, the hook portions 3 at the lower ends thereoi will be disposed in such position as to engage the arm 29 forming the upper rim for the basket 30 upon the car, and the bail or rim member 25 supporting the basket 24- upon the crane post 7. The hooks 36 are arranged upon the crane arm15 so that their hook portions 37 project inthe direction of approach of the train,

from the members 20 will be engaged at their hooked portions 37 by the arm 29 and will be drawn from engagement between the spring 21; The thickness ofthe upper portion of each of the members 36 is preferably such as will only permit or" the mem- 'ber bemg withdrawn from or insertedbetween the jaws 21 when the said members are inclined; This inclination is delivered to the various hook members'as they engage with the rim portions of the baskets 30 and 24 and as the train passes beyond the same. It will thus be seen that the members 36 are thrown into the baskets as the car passes the crane beside the track. .The mailbags or pouches are indicated at 39, and may be secured to the members 36 by straps to, or in any other preferred manner.

In operation, the bags are secured upon the hooks 36 and the latter adjusted to the grip members 20 upon the arm 15 through their openings 38. The crane post7is then rotated within its bearing 8 until the arm 15,

projects toward and at right angles to the direction of the track. Theclerk within the car adjusts such ofthe bags as he wishes delivered to the particular station to the delivery arm 33, and swings the latter, as

7 well as the basket 30, into such position that they project from the car at right angles thereto. The hooks 31 and 35 are then connected to the basket and delivery arms to maintain the same properly extended As the car approaches the crane, the bags supportedupon the hooks depending from the grip members 20 are caught in the basket 30,

while those depending from the grip mem-* here 34 are delivered to the basket 24;. r The clerk may then swing the basket 30 to the interior of the car and readily remove the bags therefrom. 'Thebags delivered to the basket 24 may also be readily removed therei from. V

It is thus seen that an extremely simple and yet thoroughly eflicient means for trans ferring pouches from the car to the crane, and from the crane to the car, is provided."

It will also be observed that this method of transferring the pouches prevents breakage or tearing of the bags, and prevents the latter from dropping to the ground or being contacted by the wheels of the passing train.

While the above is adescription of the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that various changes in the minor details of construction and arrangment of parts may be resorted to without departing ice from the spirit of the invention or exceed ing the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described, a support, a grip member on said support, rearwardly extending spaced jaws on said grip member, a pouch carrying member comprising a bar having an opening in one end for engagement between said jaws, and the thickcsses of said bar being substantially equal to the distance between said jaws, subsubstantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, a post,

a pair of spaced collars on said post, a rod connecting said collars, means for adjusting said collars upon said post, a basket projecting outwardly from one of said collars, and braces connecting the extremity of said basket with the other of said collars, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

VANDIE D. CALDWELL. Witnesses:

R. W. SMITH, Jon PAYTON.

Copies of this patent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

